Jan. 18, 2011

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David Sanchez-Dominguez, a suspect in the Nov. 13, 2009, murder of Roberto Corona at a home in north Sparks. Washoe County jail photograph.

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Before David Sanchez-Dominguez fired a fatal bullet into the chest of his brother-in-law, he had been stalking his estranged wife, who had seemingly left him for good, was granted a protection order against him and was dating someone else, according to the prosecution’s opening arguments Tuesday afternoon.

Chief Deputy District Attorney Bruce Hahn said that on Nov. 13, 2009 Sanchez-Dominguez was grossly intoxicated when he walked into his wife’s family’s home in Wingfield Springs, and demanded to see Maria Angustias Corona. When her brother, Roberto Corona confronted him, Dominguez-Sanchez pulled out a gun.

“You want to look? She’s not here,” Hahn said of Corona’s response regarding his sister, who was not at the home in the 6600 block of Fireburst Drive. “You’re going to shoot? Right here.”

Seconds after Corona pointed to his chest for emphasis, Hahn said Dominguez-Sanchez placed his 40-caliber semi-automatic pistol to his relative’s chest and fired.

The 33-year-old Reno man is charged with first-degree murder, aggravated stalking and burglary. The trial is before Washoe District Judge Steven Kosach, and is expected to run into next week.

After Corona fell to the ground, Corona’s mother slapped Dominguez-Sanchez in the face a couple of times, and then several relatives at the home battered him, said his lawyer Mary Pat Barry. The male relatives then tied him up to hold him until police arrived.

Barry described her client as devastated by his wife’s absence, who desperately wanted to see her to reconcile. She said that despite his numerous violations of the temporary restraining order that was issued against him about a month before the killing, his wife and her family never reported the violations to police.

The night of the shooting, he sat in his blue Jeep outside his wife’s home and drank whiskey. Barry said his blood alcohol level was more than three times the legal driving limit of 0.08 percent. Hahn said that during the last couple months, Dominguez-Sanchez had been going to his wife’s work looking for her and calling her constantly on the phone. His appearances at her work caught the attention of other employees, he said.

Hahn said the couple met in Mexico, and wed in 2002. During their marriage, he said Maria Corona suffered domestic violence at the hands of her husband.